RS

MEMBER DIARY

A Disconnected Congress

The House of Representatives spent much of yesterday discussing H.ConRes. 248, the Afghanistan War Powers Resolution, sponsored by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). The resolution would have required the president to remove all U.S. troops in Afghanistan within 30 days of the resolution being signed into law unless the president felt it would not be safe to do so. In that case, the president would then have until December 31, 2010 to withdraw all troops from the country. The resolution went directly against General McChrystal’s recommendation for the region and against President Obama’s own strategy. It lost by an overwhelming vote of 356-65.

Not only would this resolution have sent a bad message to our troops overseas, it would also have sent a message to our enemies that we are not committed to winning the war on terror. I was strongly opposed to this resolution and will continue to be opposed to any resolution like this one that does not give our full support to our men and women in uniform.

This resolution epitomizes the extreme disconnect between the American people and the majority party in Congress. Rather than discussing legislation that will create jobs and improve our economy, the House of Representatives spent the day debating a resolution that would endanger our troops and undermine our efforts in Afghanistan and around the world. The American people are sick and tired of Congress wasting precious time while the unemployment rate continues to hover at 10 percent and the economy still continues to lag. They are fed up with a Congress that disregards what they want and need in order to push their own liberal agenda, including a massive government takeover of our health care system.

It’s time for this government get back to the business of representing our constituents.